Gesture recognition for computer systems and other devices, in general, involves interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithms. Gestures can originate from any bodily motion or state but commonly originate from the face or hand. Many approaches have been made using cameras and computer vision algorithms to interpret sign language. However, the identification and recognition of posture, gait, and human behaviors is also the subject of gesture recognition techniques.
One type of gesture recognition relies on a user holding or otherwise manipulating a controller or handheld/mobile device. These controllers act as an extension of the body so that when gestures are performed, some of their motion can be conveniently captured by software. Mouse gestures are one such example, where the motion of the mouse is correlated to a symbol being drawn by a person's hand. Another example is the Wii Remote, from Nintendo Corp., which can study changes in acceleration over time to represent gestures. These methods in general perform statistical analysis or signal processing of accelerometer data in order to recognize a gesture. However, one drawback is that the statistical analysis is typically specialized to a single type of motion, such as the motion when swinging a golf club when using a controller to interact with a video golf game.